Lifting-jack



(No Model.)

A. A. STROM.

LIFTING JACK.

Patented Oct. 9, 1888.

$4566? J4 Srom,

Elmore TATES AXEL A. STROM, OF AUSTIN, ILLINOIS.

LIFTiNG=JACK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 390,813, dated October9, 1888.

Application filed July '21, 1888. Serial No. 280,630. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AXEL A. STRoM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Austin, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Lifting-Jacks, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates particularly to an improvement in thefriction-clutch portion of a lifting-jack, being the device commonlyemployed therein in duplicate-one for raising the lifting-bar byactuating the operating-lever and the other for holding the lifting-barin its raised position.

The object of my present improvement is to provide a construction offriction-clutch which shall afford a long leverage with which to actuateit to grip or bind the lifting-bar, and which shall be exerted close tothe liftingbar and not far away from the latter, as it would have to beif the leverage were merely extended on the clutches or pawls, ashitherto constructed, whereby there would be a tendency to bend thelifting-bar by the strain exerted to produce the gripping effect.

The principle of construction, owing to which I obtain the longleverage, as aforesaid, is the same as that set forth in my applicationfor Letters Patent of the United States for an improvement inlifting-jacks, Serial No. 280,638, filed concurrently with the presentapplication. Therein the construction for the said purpose is broadlyclaimed, and involves the extension of the handle at which the power isapplied to the clutch to produce the gripping efi'ect from the bearingor binding surface of the clutch on one side of the liftingbar to ortoward the opposite side thereof, at which the other bearing or bindingsurface is provided. Hence I do not claim such broad construction in thepresent application, which is intended to cover the general as well asthe more specific construction of a lifting-jack employing thefriction-clutch device shown in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 shows a lifting-jack in side elevation provided with myimprovement applied both as a lifting-clutch and as a retainingclutch.Fig. 2 shows the same as Fig. 1, but in vertical section; and Fig. 3presents, in perspective, the two parts separated, forming my improvedfriction-clutch A is a liftingjack of any suitable construction, towhich my improved friction-clutch is applicable, and preferably thatshown and described in Letters Patent of the United States No. 389,156,granted me on the 21st day of August, 1888.

As my invention relates only to the frictionclutch, and not to theconstruction of other parts of the lifting-jack, which may be old, thelatter are merely referred to herein and not elaborately described.

B is the hollow standard portion provided with a guide-collar, sc; 0,the liftingbar within the standard; D, the operating-lever forthelifting-clutch, bifurcated and fulcrumed at opposite sides of itsbifurcated part in recesses in opposite sides of the upper edges of theexpanded upper portion of the standard, and 1" denotes the linksconnecting the short arm of the lever D, which projects slightly beyondthe standard, with the lifting-clutch.

The guide-collar as referred to is merely-a web connecting the two sidesof the expanded portion of the standard and having a central opening forthe lifting-bar, like the guide-collar in various forms oflifting-jacks, wherein it performs the same function of a guidesurrounding the lifting-bar toward the upper end of the standard.

My improved clutch device may be employed both as a lifting-clutch and aretaining-clutch in a lifting-jack, though it may be used for either ofthe said purposes alone, any other suitable form of friction-clutchbeing used for the other purpose; hence I do not confine myself to theemployment of both a lifting and a retaining clutch of the constructionhereinafter set forth in the same liftingjack.

E is the lifting-clutch, and E the retaining clutch. The clutch Ecomprises two parts, one being a collanp, preferably conforming to theshape in cross-section of the lifting-bar and sufficiently wide toextend beyond one side of the same,where the adjacent side of the collarthus out of contact with the bar 0 may be, and preferably is, in theform of a round bar, q. The other part of the clutch E is a collar, 0,like the collar p, preferably conforming to the shape in cross-sectionof theliftingbar, and provided at one end with an upward and outwardprojecting hook, it, and bent ICO downward toward its opposite end toafford a hook, m, though the form of the end at is not of coursenecessarily that of a hook. In the same way that the collar 1) is widerthan the lifting-bar toward the bar q, whereby a space is providedbetween it and the latter, the collar 0 is preferably also wider towardthe handle m, leaving a space between its inner surface, forming one endof the collar and the ad j acent side of the lifting-harm The collarp isadjusted on the bar Gto surround it, with the bar q on one side thereof,and the collar 0 is similarly adjusted below the collar 1), with thehook it of the former caughtover the bar q, and the lower ends of thelinks 1' may be connected, as shown, by a bar, 7", to engage at the barr with the bent or hook portion at of the collar 0. Any other suitablemeans of connecting the links and collar may be employed. \Vhen thelever D is lowered, it pulls through the link-connection on the collar0, thereby pulling the lower innor face of the hook portion a, whichthus affords a bearing against the side of the liftingbar, and throughthe connection of the hook it with the side (1 of the collar 2 pulls theopposite side, 75, of the latter against the other side of thelifting-bar, thereby firmly gripping the bar 0 between two opposingbearings and causing it to be raised with whatever load may be imposedupon it.

While it is preferred that the parts p and 0 shall be readily separable,the hook portion a may, if desired, be permanently, but loosely,connected with the bar q.

The retaining-clutch E involves as parts, in the collarp, having the barq, collar 0, pro vided with the hook it, and handle at, exact orsubstantial counterparts of the features 1), q, 0, a, and m ofthelifting-elutch E, the only difference in the construction being thatthe handle at should be extended farther than the handle m, to afford areadily-accessible releasing-lever, and the dillfercnce in theadjustment being that the retaining-clutch collars occupy a reverseposition on the lifting'bar with relation to those of the liftingclutch,whereby the handle at, which rests on a projection, Z, on the standardforming its fulcrum, extends on the same side of thcjack as the lever D,where it is readily accessible to the operator. By fulcruming the handleor lever m, as described, the weight of the retaining clutch causes itto be normally tipped, and thus to bind the bar 0, the weight of which,together with that of the load upon it, obviously increases the bindingeffect. To release the retaining-clutch, downward pressure is brought tobear against the handle or lever portion m, which forces the collars pand 0 and bearing sides ka thereof to their relative horizontalpositions, and thus destroys their gripping effect, permitting the bar 0to slide through them.

The collar portions of either clutch may, without altering their natureand. functions,

be changed as to form and still be within my invention, and though it ispreferred that the handle portion of thelower collar of the clutch shallextend beyond the side of the lifting-bar opposite that at which thebearing-surface of such collar is located, such handle portion obviouslyneed not extend so far. It will be seen, however, that the constructionwhereby the handle portion of the clutch extends from one side of thelifting-bar to or toward the 0pposite side of the same affords greatleverage and permits it to be exerted close to the lifting-bar, and thatthe pivotal connection of the two parts of the clutch renders themflexible, and thus increases the gripping effect without requiringadditional power to exert it. Of course the pivotal connection could beproduced by constructing the hook 0 or 0 on the lower collar to engagewith the rear bar of the upper collar from the outer side of the saidrear bar, when it would not be required to have a material space betweenthe latter and the adjacent surface of the lifting-bar 0. Such slightchanges in the construction as have herein been suggested are quiteobvious and readily comprehensible without requiring them to beillustrated in the drawings.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a lifting-jack, the combination, with the standard andlifting-bar, of a frictionelutch comprising two collars on the lifting--bar having bearing or gripping surfaces, respectively, on opposite sidesof the same, and pivotally connected from the gripping side of one tothe non-gripping side of the other, and having the part on one collar atwhich the actuating-power is applied extended from its gripping side onone side of the lifting-bar toward the opposite side of the latter,substantially as described.

2. In a lifting-jack, the combination, with the standard B, lifting-barG, and operatinglever D, of a liftingclutch, E, comprising a collar, 2),on the lifting-bar, having a bearing or gripping side, It, for one sideof the liftingbar, a collar, 0, on the lifting-bar, having a bearing orgripping side, a, for the opposite side of the liftingbar, pivotallyconnected with the adjacent side, q, of the collar 17, and extended fromthe bearing it toward the opposite side of the lifting-bar, where it isconnected with the lever D,and asuitable retainingcluteh, substantiallyas described.

3. In a lifting-jack, the combination, with the standard B, lifting-barO, and operatinglever D, of a liftingclutch, E, comprising a collar, 1),on the lifting-bar, having a bearing or gripping side, 70, for one sideof the liftingbar, a collar, 0, on the lifting-bar, having a rigidbearing or gripping side, a, for the opposite side of the lifting-barand terminating in a hook connected with the adjacent side, 1, of thecollarp, and a bent portion, 1a, extending from the side a toward theopposite side of the liftingbar and connected with the 1e scams 3 "verD, and a suitable retaining-clutch, substantially as described.

4. In a lifting-jack, the combination, with the standard B, lifting-barO, and operating lever D, of a suitable lifting-clutch, and a retaining-clutch, E, comprising a collar, 10, on the lifting-bar, having abearing or gripping side, It, for one side of the lifting-bar, acollar,.o, on the lifting-bar, having a hearing or gripping side, n, forthe opposite side of the lifting-bar, pivotally connected With theadjacent side, q, of the collar 1), and extended from the bearing ntoward the opposite side of the lifting-bar into a handle portion, m,fulcrumed on the standard, substantially as described.

5 In a lifting-jack, the combination, with the standard B, lifting-barG, and. operatinglever D, of a suitable lifting-clutch, and aretaining-clutch comprising a collar, 19, on the lifting-bar, andterminating in a hook con-- nected with the adjacent side, q, of thecollar 19, and a handle portion, m, extending from the side 1t towardthe opposite side of thelifting-bar, and ful'crurned on the standard,substantially as described.

AXEL A. STROM. In presence of- M. J. BOWERS, J. W. DYRENFORTH.

